Alyssa Ciasullo
Fairfield County, Connecticut

Total cost: over $150,000
Number of family members with LD: 4 immediate, 16 extended
Lost work/school: ongoing
Number of years sick: 2.5

Alyssa was bitten by a deer tick in the fall of 1994. She was diagnosed with Lyme disease in March of 1995, months after she should have been diagnosed and treated. She appeared to respond well to heavy doses of oral medication, and local pediatricians believed Alyssa to be well, despite frequent colds, flu and fatigue.

She is currently enmeshed in a serious relapse. Lyme has invaded her entire neurological system. A gifted student at school, she has just been accepted as a special education student due to her brain limitations which affect her cognitive abilities. She suffers pain, fatigue or emotionally irritability on a daily basis. As a first year middle-schooler, she should be giggling and talking on the phone and having boundless energy. This is not the case. Alyssa is a very sick child. Just when she should be testing her wings, her wings have been clipped by Lyme disease.